Talua is busy and tired!

Greetings,

It is still quite busy at Talua at the moment. During Open Day a work party of about 25 people from New Zealand arrived to help build a new staff house. They have been here for a week, hosted by staff and students, and most of the group left this morning. There is also a small group staying at Talua for a week and traveling into bush villages to study local languages which need Bible translation work. There are still quite a few other groups to come, and I think we will have people staying constantly until the middle of August. We also had a surprise visit by the Prime Minister and some MPs last Tuesday to Tata school (2km up the road). Talua were invited to attend and be part of the ceremonies and discussion. Preparations are beginning for Independence Day, a very significant celebration held at the end of July.

All of this activity has both positive and negative effects. The students and staff are all feeling quite tired from this activity and there is now some sickness starting to go around. Open Day was especially draining as many students stayed up through the night preparing food for all of the visitors. (There were a few hundred people who were staying at Talua, plus many others who came each day from their villages.) It is very difficult to keep students alert in class and we have also had to cancel quite a few mentoring times.

Overall, we rejoice at the many things that are happening. Talua is in a wonderful position to bring blessing to the surrounding area and to Vanuatu as a whole and we pray that God would work through these things which are happening.

PRAYER POINTS:
• Praise God for the safety we have had over the past few weeks through Open Day and the work party visit.
• Pray that students would be able to find time for rest and would enjoy good health.
• Pray for all the groups which are visiting Talua. Pray that they would have safe travel, that Talua would continue to be welcoming despite our tiredness, that the visitors would be challenged and grow by their visit to Talua, and that the work they do would help Talua and the churches here in their work of proclaiming and teaching the message of Christ.
• That Talua would have wisdom to decide which groups to receive and a focus on the kingdom of God so that we will be willing to continue supporting activities which help the wider church in Vanuatu and not just Talua.
• Pray that students would continue to learn and grow, and that the business at Talua would not hinder their training or spiritual growth.
• Pray that our family would continue to have sufficient rest and enjoy good health.